Blazing Saddles SE - Specs (1 Viewer)

[Bill Williams]

Damn thing's warped!

Here, let's pass these around to the boys in lieu of pay.

 

[Keith Paynter]

I am disappointed by the lack of a 'scene-specific' commentary (as advertised).

Seeing the clips from the Madeline Kahn documentary makes me wish the whole show was available.

The 'Black Bart' pilot had none of the charm of the original character, and Lou Gossett, Jr. probably was glad this didn't get picked up - the documentary highlights the racial bigotry and the original film's intent, while this pilot does little more than reinforce it.

Bill, why do you always get a warped one?

 

[Conrad_SSS]

This is a great DVD. The transfer is a quantum leap better than the original release, and I think the new 5.1 sound is amazing. Crystal clear and without any forced gimmicks. It retains the integrity of the original, and adds the broad freshness of crisp stereophonic music.

One of my happiest DVD viewing experiences in a long time was being able to screen this sparkling new release last night.

Thank you, Warner!

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Really? I thought it was dull. The only real info - about casting Kahn and her legs - appears in the commentary. The rest of it's just "Madeline's really talented!" over and over.

And scene-specific or not, I like the commentary. It's really more of an audio essay than a commentary, but it's tight and informative. I think it's the best feature on the DVD...

 

[Felix Martinez]

Me too, and I'm glad WB decided to carry it over from the old disc. A memorable moment is Mel's description of the studio reaction to the film, and the impromptu screening he whipped up with secretaries, employees, anyone he could find in the halls. Classic...

Now when is fox going to do a proper release of Young Frankenstein, History of the World, etc., etc....?

Cheers,

 

[Stephen Ford]

Whats wrong with the Young Frankenstien release.

I have the R2 and it has a load of extras and is anamorphic so why do we need another release ?

 

[paul_austin]

I'll tell ya what kills me about the "Young Frankenstein" DVD. I saw a "making of" piece on tv and they had a bunch of bloopers from it that werent on the DVD..../cry

 

[TonyD]

maybe everyone is not in reg 2 and most of those people dont want to buy another dvd player just to play other reg dvd's.

and the first reg 1 dvd wasnt really very good.
thats why i'm hoping for a new dvd.

 

[Stefan A]

Well, I have to say that I am not happy that they retained the original commentary. I got the disc today and was looking forward to the new commentary - but didn't get it. Sounds like false advertising to me. The transfer is great, but the extras - including the commentary is what I was really looking forward to. Hell, I've seen the movie enough times that I can recite the lines - I was looking forward to something new.

Stefan

 

[Colin Jacobson]

How so? Where did they indicate it'd be a brand new commentary?

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

I think calling it "Scene Specific Commentary" on the back of the DVD and in the advertising is clearly a gross misrepresentation of the feature. Not only because it is most definitely not scene specific, and doesn't even run the entire length of the film, but on the original release this very same feature is called: "55-Minute Interview".

An interview and a scene specific commentary are two very different things, and to change the name of the feature from one version to another, especially when the older version is still in print only further distorts the truth leading unsuspecting buyers to think they were actually getting a new feature, a real commentary and not the same interview as before.

False advertising? I'd say definitely, and if you really wanted to, I'm sure you could return it and get your money back. Could make for a funny small claims case though if they wont.

Personally, the improved anamorphic transfer is worth the price of admission, but I too was very disappointed when I first was told that the reported commentary was not a commentary at all, but rather the same interview as before.

 

[R. Kay]

Old commentary ... hmm ...

I guess Mel Brooks was busy playing with Harvey Korman with their paddle-rackets.

 

[Stefan A]

It's right there on the back cover of the dvd. Anybody who has the original release knows that the "commentary" is just Brooks taking randomly about the movie - with no regard to the action on the screen. I doubt he was actually watching the movie when he did it. So when it has been advertised ahead of time AND says on the back of the disk "scene specific commentary", you expect it to be different. He never talks about specific scenes as the movie is running.

Not that what he says is no good - in fact it is excellent. But a lot of us already have that on the old dvd.

Stefan

 

[Scott_MacD]

I used to think what you did, but then I now import from R1 a lot, too. The freedom to buy what takes your fancy from anywhere more than pays for that new DVD player.

Anyway, here's hoping you get your anamorphic Young Frankenstein.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

It is easy for those in other reasons, with TVs that will correctly display both PAL and NTSC and where region-free players are easy to obtain, to do this. It is really not an option for most folks in R1 whose sets cannot display PAL and where region-free players are scarcer than hens' teeth.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Joseph,

I know there are several region free players available for under or around $50 so cost shouldn't be much of an issue.

Most region free DVD players convert PAL video to NTSC so they will play on any NTSC TV, but then you have to deal with the dreaded 4% PAL speed-up when converting PAL to NTSC displays.

One of my players is region free which I have had for over five years (Pioneer DV-505), and I avoid PAL speed-up by using a projector which accepts a PAL source without any conversion.

Some folks don't notice or don't care about PAL speed-up, but it really bothers me.

Personally, I've been collecting DVDs for many years and from all regions, and even so, if I was only limited to my R1 DVDs I would be more than satisfied. There are a few non R1 releases that I am very pleased to own, but more often than not I have found many non R1 editions to have fancy eye catching packaging, but inferior PQ. Not to mention the hassles of buying non R1 DVDs (cost, shipping, delays, trust worthy source, and if you have to return a faulty disc... that can be a real headache.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

And that's an assumption - you can't sue over an assumption. I agree that calling the track "scene-specific" is a stretch, though studios tend to do so simply to differentiate the commentary from a SCREEN-specific one; in their minds, it means that the commentary only accompanies CERTAIN SCENES and not the whole movie, and it's not specific to what happens on-screen.

But no one at WB ever promised a new commentary, AFAIK...

 

[Stefan A]

If you listen to the old commentary, you realize that he is not refering to anything that is happening in the movie. So therefore it is not scene specific. By calling the commentary on the new disk scene specific, it suggests that a new commentary was made.

If you don't want to call it false advertising - fine. But it is EXTREMELY misleading. And further, I am guessing that this was purposely misleading. It is an absolute mis-representation.

Stefan

 

[Mike_G]

I'll have to agree about the "scene specific" remark. The original commentary was NOT scene specific, so saying that someone is wrong in "assuming" the commentary is different is not to be taken lightly - it IS described as a different KIND of commentary - end of story. It's like the Spiderman DVD that says "Theatrical Trailers" when in fact it's ONE trailer for Spidey and trailers for other films. I'm getting a little sick and tired of the misrepresentation of extras that have been creeping their way onto DVDs lately.

Mike